Via The Mainichi Daily News: Cabinet nuclear advisor resigns in protest over government response to plant crisis. Excerpt:
A nuclear advisor to the Cabinet has resigned in protest against government stopgap measures that deal with the ongoing nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
Toshiso Kosako, 61, a University of Tokyo professor specializing in radiation safety, submitted a letter of resignation to the Prime Minister's Office on April 29.
During a press conference held at the Diet building later that day, Kosako, who was named a special advisor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan on March 16, criticized the government's handling of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant as shortsighted.
In particular, Kosako protested against the government's decision to revise the maximum permissible level of radiation exposure among children up to 20 millisieverts per year, saying, "Should I approve that decision, I would no longer be a researcher. I would not want my children to be exposed to that amount of radiation."
Kosako revealed the Cabinet did not accept his advice that outdoor school activities for elementary and junior high school students near the crippled power station be restricted to prevent them from being exposed to over 1 millisievert of radiation per year.
"It is quite rare for nuclear power plant workers dealing with radioactive materials to be exposed to 20 millisieverts of radiation per year. I cannot allow infants and children to be exposed to such high levels of radiation from an academic as well as humanitarian point of view."
He also pointed out that the government was slow in applying the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI) and disclosing its data, even though nuclear safety guidelines stipulate the system be implemented immediately in an emergency.
"The government has ignored the law and taken stopgap measures, failing to bring the crisis under control promptly," he said.
